US can't afford 'Twitter presidency': Senate Democrats

Democratic leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer has slammed President-elect Donald Trump for his twitter habit, claiming the US cannot afford "Twitter presidency" on the first day of the 115th session of the Congress.

"'Making America Great Again' requires more than 140 characters per issue," Xinhua news agency quoted Schumer as saying in his first speech on Tuesday as the Senate minority leader.

"With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency. We have real challenges and we need to get real things done."

Schumer warned the incoming President will fail if he sticks with a "Twitter presidency".

"Many Americans are afraid, Mr. President-elect, that instead of rolling up your sleeves and forging serious policies... for you, Twitter suffices," he told the Senate chamber.

"There's nothing wrong with using Twitter to speak to the American people," Schumer said. "It's a good use of modern media. But these issues are complex and demand both careful consideration and action. We cannot tweet them away."

"If Trump lets the hard-right members of the Congress and his cabinet run the show, if he attempts to adopt their time-worn policies which benefit the elites, the special interests, corporate America -- not the working man and woman -- his presidency will not succeed," Schumer said.

"Maybe not in the first 90 days, but certainly not in the first two years."

The Democrat said Trump's tweet "bragging" about the 800 jobs he saved at the Carrier plant in Indiana "doesn't solve the underlying problem".

"While it's good the 800 jobs were saved... even at Carrier, 1,300 jobs are still leaving, hundreds more at the nearby Rexnord plant that are going overseas, and most importantly, thousands more each month leave our shores from every part of America," Schumer said.

Democrats are "going to hold the President-elect accountable for a real policy to stop jobs from leaving the country", Schumer said, adding that his party will work with Trump and Republicans to create more jobs and improve the country's transportation systems.

--IANS

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